The 2017 PSM SCM Championship Meet was held on November 18 and 19th . Nearly 200 swimmers from the Pacific Northwest and beyond came to Weyerhauser Aquatic Center in Federal Way, WA. 16 of these swimmers–the most important 16, as I’m sure we can agree–call themselves TWIM. Two other TWIMmers remained on deck: The awesome and always helpful Coach Heather, whom we would be lost without! And Frank Powell whom we hope will be back in the water one day soon! Here are a few highlights from the meet…
Brad Jones joins us from the Northern reaches of the state where they’re clearly of a stronger stock than the rest of us—Able to conquer events that would leave the rest of us flailing (or at least whining unbearably.) He started the meet with the 400 IM, finishing with a time of 5:19.25. Dropping 10.75 seconds off his seed time and 2 seconds over last year. His next events were 100 fly and 50 fly coming in 1st in his age group in both events. He also swam (yes, fly!) in the Men’s 200 medley relay and a PNA zone record breaking 400 Medley relay!
Bret Bryan joins us for his second meet with TWIM swimming the 200 free in 2:56.55 dropping 3.45 off his seed time. He then swam 50 free. Impressive swimming Bret!!
Zena Courtney is an unstoppable force. This woman went off the blocks 12 times!! I understand why she didn’t feel pity for me she tried to drag me into a relay after I’d gotten dressed!! Highlights from Zena’s busy weekend include: 200 back in 2:49.94 dropping nearly 10 seconds off her seed time!She also swam 100 Back, 200 free, 50 Free, 100 free, and 50 back.AND 4 relays including the women’s 200 medley relay, mixed 400 free relay, mixed 800 free relay, and mixed 200 medley relay.
Tammy Regan Koppelberger and Kathy Pelham swam the exact same events—100, 200, 400, 800, and 1500 free. It’s a good thing we’ve become friends because we spent a whole lot of time and effort trying to beat each other. We both dropped tons of time over last year—in the 1500 I dropped nearly a minute and Tammy shaved off over 2 minutes from 2 years ago! We hear our 800 was a nail biting event which I cannot comment on because my head was in the water, but it sounded quite impressive for an event that has the potential to put its spectators into a hypnotic trance. I think we’ll keep swimming together because it seems to be working out for both of us. We may even attempt to escape Alcatraz next year if she works on convincing me a little bit more…
Maoz Alsberg returned to the pool from fractured elbow recuperation mere weeks before the meet. In usual Maoz fashion, some sort of combination of drama, injury, or chaos follows him to the pool and this meet was no exception. He managed to swim his first event, the 100 IM, while inhaling half the pool—choking, convulsing, nearly dying, but ultimately prevailing for a personal best time of 1:05.38. He also swam 50 free and 100 free and swam in the 200 free relay.
Dan Underbrink swam an exhausting list of events starting with the 400 IM, completing it in 6:41:76, a 10:39 improvement over last time he swam it and nearly 30 seconds faster than last year! He swam 100 Back beating seed time by 1:86, 100 Breast, 200 IM, 200 back, 200 breast, and the 400 men’s medley relay.
Val Thompson joined Tammy, Betsey, and I in the world of distance free. She swam 4 amazing events including the 800 free, 100 IM, 400 free, and the 1500 free. Her fabulous husband/support staff, Vic hung out with us for the weekend.
The invincible Betsey Kassen swam 800 free, 50 breast, and 200 free on Saturday. Her 50 breast time broke a PNA record! This is even more exciting because she’s been following along behind a former Olympian and world record holder for ages! (or at least the duration of the last age group.) This is one time where getting a year older is gooooood! And though she contemplated skipping the 1500 on Sunday, we were happy to see her appear on deck to join our 4 TWIMmer heat with lightning fast times in all of her events!
Brian Guillen swam only Sunday, but with two individual events and 2 relays in a one-hour period, he made up for missing a day!! Brian swam 50 fly, stopped to catch his breath for a few minutes and then proceeded to swim 100 free, 100 FLY, and 50 free one after another. Awesome swimming and he was still maintaining bodily function afterward, so we didn’t have to drag him out of the pool!!
After a summer of crazy long distance open water events, Jenny Ferries is back to her usual events. She swam 50 Breast–dropping a whole 4 seconds off her seed time, 100 breast, 200 breast, breast in the women’s 200 Medley, and then to change things up a bit, she finished the meet off swimming the 1500.
Jim Mange joined TWIM just weeks ago. With great times in the 800 free, 100 back and 200 back and then two back to back relays we know he’s definitely TWIM material!! Welcome Jim!!
Father Tom Fritschen continues to drop time in all his usual events. This past weekend he came in first in his age group in 200 back finishing in 3:06.86. a full 8 seconds better than last year! He also swam 100 back, 50 free, the 400 men’s medley relay and then to break out of any sort of routine he swam the 1500! Nice swimming Tom!
Valerie Powell swam a total 6 individual events and one relay. A very busy weekend made even more amazing by the huge drops in time she made in several events. Her 100 Back was nearly 16 seconds faster this year than last and her 200 Free was nearly 12 seconds faster. Amazing!! She also swam 50 free, 100 free, 50 back, and joined a few other TWIMmers in the 200 free relay. Great job, Valerie!!
Tom Walker continues to inspire us all to keep swimming and his magnetic personality keeps drawing TWIM members from far and wide. This past weekend he swam an immense amount of breast stroke and IMs. Exhausting just to think of it all!! Awesome swimming, Tom!!
Carl Haynie was second only to Zena in ridiculous amount of events with 6 individual and 3 relays, two of which broke PNA zone records! He beat his seed times in 100 and 200 breast, coming within hundredths of seconds of his best time in 200 breast.
Most impressive of all was this newfound talent Carl has developed in his spare time… At the next meet he and Flipper plan to do a synchronized swimming duet for our viewing pleasure…
